Lost Dog
by MegaBauer
Summary: During battle, Rush gets attacked and ends up lost. As Mega, Roll and Dr. Light deal with this hardship and try to find him, Rush must make his voyage home alone, but finds some help on the way. Ruby Spears cartoon universe.
1. Lost

_"Mega Man" and all characters therein: Copyright 1987-2011, Capcom._

_(Mega Man cartoon series, Copyright 1994-1997, Ruby Spears Enterprises)_

_As pointed out in the summary, this story takes place in the Ruby Spears 1990's cartoon universe, Not the orignal  
>video game universe.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>The following takes place between seasons one and two of the Mega Man cartoon show.<strong>

* * *

><p>The year is 20X2.<p>

The season of Spring has begun on this glorious April morning and right now it is blissful outside of Dr. Light's Laboratory.  
>Birds can be heard chirping, the breeze is still nice and cool and the sky is a wonderful shade of blue, without a cloud in the sky.<p>

Out in the back yard behind Dr. Light's residential/lab complex are Mega Man - the Defender of the Human Race - , his sister  
>Roll and their dog Rush.<br>Mega Man and Rush are playing a soccer game with Rush acting as the goalie and Roll is by herself sitting in the grass, occasionally  
>writing in her diary as she takes in the beautiful day around her.<br>All of a sudden, she feels something hit her in the center of her back.  
>The blonde-haired ladybot is startled for a split second and gasps, until she realizes it was just the boys' soccer ball.<p>

"Oooops!", says Mega Man, "Sorry, Sis! You wouldn't mind sending it back, would you?"

Roll stands up with the ball in her hands and she drops it down and punts it back over with her right foot, however, the kick  
>did not resemble a soccer kick of any kind.<p>

As the ball falls back down into Mega Man's hands, he says, "That was _not _a soccer kick."

Roll, who admitedly is not much of a sports fan, replies with her hands on her hips, "_Excuuuuse_ me, big brother! I don't know  
>all these sports like you do."<p>

"It's your loss, sis", Mega says, throwing the ball in the air and hitting it with his helmeted head back towards Rush.

"Oh, really?" Roll asks, tilting her head, "And why is that?"

"It's cool, for one," Mega answers, now turning back to his sister, "There's nothing quite like witnessing the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."

Just as Mega Man finishes his sentance, the ball bounces off the side of his helmeted head.

"What the?", Mega gasps as he looks over to find Rush standing in front of the goal laughing at him. Rush nailed him with the  
>ball when the hero wasn't looking.<p>

Roll can't help but laugh at the sight too. "And you just got defeated by your own dog!", she giggles.

Mega grins and picks the ball back up and Roll begins stepping over towards her brother with her arms folded behind her back,  
>wanting to bring up something she was just writing about in her diary.<p>

"You know," She says, "According to my internal chronometer, this week is the anniversary of you and me coming online for  
>the first time."<p>

"Our birthday", Mega replies, "... with all of the times we've fought Dr. Wily in the past year, I haven't thought of it much."

Roll's facial expression becomes one of concern. "Not even enough to get me a gift?", she asks.

"... well, I did think about it enough for that", Mega teases.

"Can you tell me what it is?", Roll asks, with a wide smile accross her face.

"Nope!", Mega replies, shaking his head, "It's top secret. Just like Christmastime."

"Come on! Please?", Roll begs, "I promise I'll stay home next time you go on a mission."

"Sorry, Roll," Mega replies, now smiling himself, "I still can't."

Right on cue, the robot heroes can hear the sound of the emergency signal wailing from inside the lab.

"Speaking of missions," Mega says, his smile now melted into a frown.

* * *

><p>Mega, Roll and Rush run into the lab to find Dr. Light already standing in front of the main computer console with a close up<br>shot of the Nimoy Science Insitute and Museum on the large viewscreen.

"What's he up to this time?", Mega asks, referring to Dr. Wily.

"There must be one reason only," the good doctor says, "The new robot I designed is being constructed there.  
>His name is Galaxy Man." Dr. Light turns to Mega Man and stresses, "It is imperative you make sure Wily doesn't get his hands<br>on this robot."

"What makes him so dangerous?", Mega asks.

"I created him to counter the threat of an astroid collision," Thomas replies, "So his special power is the ability to create a black  
>hole. Anything that goes in... won't make it out."<p>

Roll's eye's widen in shock.

"Um," Mega stammers, "I can see why we can't afford to lose him."

"The robot shouldn't be online just yet," Thomas adds, "But if Albert ever got him hands on him..."

"Don't worry, he's not going to get so much as a finger on him!", Mega interrupts, "Rush, let's move!"

Rush barks and transforms into Jet Mode. Mega mounts himself on Rush's back and they fly out of a hatch in the roof of  
>Dr. Light's lab.<br>Roll wastes no time and and sprints to the garage where her skycycle is. Soon, she follows her brother towards the factory and towards danger once again.

* * *

><p><strong>Nimoy Science Institute and Museum.<br>****New York City.**

The Skullker hovers over the science building as people inside begin fleeing. The building is known by it's large glass dome  
>sunroof whch depicts the globe. Unfortunatly, Dr. Wily's robot's always feel the need to make an entrance, so the robot masters<br>GutsMan, Cut Man, Star Man and Hard Man dive out of the Skullker and crash through it and into the museum.

The Skullker itself lowers itself through the hole that remains in said sunroof and parks inside. The roboguards try to put up a fight,  
>but only get swatted down by the robot masters in no time. Some guards are cut down by Cut Man's cutters, or are crushed by<br>GutsMan or Hard Man, while Star Man used his star shield to protect himself from attacks... as one can guess, his weapon isn't really  
>much of a weapon at all.<p>

Star Man looks perturbed by his rather lame "weapon."  
>"I need a blaster!," he mopes in his scratchy voice, "or some nifty weapon like you guys have."<p>

"Well, why don't you tell Dr. Wily himself!", Cut Man says, pointing over to the Skullker where Dr. Wily and ProtoMan exit.  
>Wily looks particularly chipper today, vigorously rubbing his hands together and nearly salavating over the chance to steal this<br>top secret robot that he's read so much about (thanks to a little hacking into the federal government's servers, of course.)  
>Star Man uses this chance to try and speak with Wily about upgrading his weapon.<p>

"Oh, boy! This should be funny!", GutsMan laughs.

As Wily and ProtoMan proceed, Star Man approaches and walks alongside them.  
>"Dr. Wily, I was thinking that perhaps you could upgrade my primary weapon system when we return to the fortress.", he says.<p>

"Star Man, can't you see that I'm busy prepareing to liberate the robot who will help me capture the world?", Wily replies, still  
>wearing his smile on his face to the best of his ability, trying not to sound annoyed... yet.<p>

"But, almost all of the other robots in our army-"

"_My_ army!", Wily snaps, now starting to get agitated.

"_Your_ army, I mean, all have very deadly weapons. If I am going to live to up my programming and destroy Mega Man as you wish, I  
>am going to need-"<p>

"Star Man, shut-up!" Wily finally snaps, "The only reason why I even let you be a part of this mission is because you - an astrological  
>robot - didn't want to miss the chance to meet the new robot in person. And I only let you come along to get you to stop<br>begging! Now, let me get the damn robot!"

Wily storms off, his good mood ruined.  
>ProtoMan smirks and chuckles, shaking his head.<p>

"Good work there, Sparkles!", he quips, mockingly giving the disappointed Star Man a pat on the back.

* * *

><p>Dr. Wily and company make their way through the structure, occasionally taking out a robo security guard along the way.<br>As Wily approaches a corridor marked "Authorized Personnel only", he knows he's reached his destination.  
>But, as soon as he turns the corner to enter the hallway, he sees a group of human guards huddled in front of a titanium<br>reinforced door.  
>Wily panics and takes shelter just outside of the corridor, nearly getting shot when one guard fires off a round from his gun.<p>

"Proto, deal with them!", he gasps.

"No problem.", Proto grins.

Proto begins walking toward the human guards who start firing their weapons at him. The rounds in the guns are standard  
>bullets and can't do much of any damage to a robot with titanium armor.<br>Proto puts his right arm up, protecting the small area of synthetic flesh on his face that is exposed, and aims his blaster arm at  
>the guards, retracting his hand inside of his forearm and producing the blast nozzle in it's place.<p>

"You never learn, do you?", Proto says, firing a stun blast at the humans, knocking them all out.  
>Proto could have killed them with a full blast, but he's never felt the need for such a mess.<br>The red robot kneels down as he approaches a knocked out guard and pulls his keycard off his waist.

"You guys need some better bullets," Proto jokes, "the ones you use now kind of tickle."

ProtoMan swipes the card into the keypad, unlocking the titanium door.

"Good work, my boy!", Dr. Wily says as he walks towards his best robot along with the rest of the robot masters behind him.  
>ProtoMan opens the door and enters the "Clean Room" with Albert behind him.<br>Cut Man and Star Man have no problem entering, but GutsMan and Hard Man can't fit in the human-sized doorframe.  
>After both try to enter the clean room, they both tear the walls up to make the doorway bigger.<br>Problem solved.

* * *

><p>Dr. Wily stops in front of a robot who is almost complete and is propped up on his feet, but is offline.<br>His armor appears to be grey, but changes colors every so often to pink, green or orange, thanks to his solar engery.  
>The robot resembles a flying saucer with arms and legs and the dome of the saucer is the robot's head and two antenae<br>sticking out on top.

"Galaxy Man!", Dr. Wily says with his arms outstretched, "You will be a fine addition!"

"You might want to read up on him first, Doc!", Proto says, tossing Wily a folder.  
>Wily catches the folder and opens it and begins reading the technical specifics on Galaxy Man.<p>

"Titanium combat chassis, yes I know," he mumbles, reading out loud, "Space travel... developed by... _ugh_... Dr. Thomas Light...  
>what's this?"<br>Wily reads and his eyes go wide as he reads, "... he can create temporary black holes!"  
>Wily looks back at ProtoMan, stunned.<p>

"Why didn't I think of that?", he asks.

Proto shrugs, "Well, we don't exactly have ability to create an event horizon at the Fortress, Doc."

"We do now, don't we?", Dr. Wily says with a grin, "Let's get him aboard the Skullker!"

GutsMan and Hard Man hoist the robot off of his platform and carry him out. GutsMan carries him by his arms; Hard Man by  
>the legs.<p>

* * *

><p>On the way back to the Skullker, Wily dreams about what he'll do with Galaxy Man.<br>"Just imagine," Albert says, holding his hands outward infront of his face as he visualizes the future, "all we have to do is sick Galaxy  
>Man on that blue pest of a brother of yours, Proto, and he'll be lost inside a black hole forever! The world will be mine!"<p>

"Not anytime soon, Wily!"

Dr. Wily, ProtoMan and the robot masters look up to see Mega Man and Rush hovering above them.

"Quick!", Wily yells, "Get Galaxy Man to the Skullker!"

Guts Man and Hard Man run in double time towards the back door of the Skullker.  
>Mega Man leaps off of Rush to deal with Star Man, Cut Man and his brother ProtoMan.<p>

"Rush, I think you know how to deal with GutsMan!", he says.

Rush barks and jets off to the Skullker to block the path of the large Wily bots. Before GutsMan and Hard Man can take Galaxy  
>Man inside the Skullker, Rush stands directly in their way and growls, showing his teeth.<p>

"Uh-oh!" GutsMan freaks, "I'm not dealin' with you, ya' mutt!"

Gutsy drops Galaxy Man on the floor and hides behind Hard Man, not wanting to deal with being bitten by Rush.

"What are you doing?", Hard Man groans.

"If you want to deal with him, you deal with him! I'm not gettin' bitten!", GutsMan babbles...  
>yes, he really did say it like that, folks.<p>

"Hey, Mega Man!" Star Man says, "You'll wish you were in a galaxy far, far away when you feel my power!"

Star Man emits his spinning Star Shield, again making little stars spin around his body.  
>ProtoMan facepalms and groans, "Oh, brother!"<br>Mega puts his hands on his hips as he looks at Star Man, unimpressed.

"_That's_ your deadly weapon?", he scoffs.

"Well... yeah, it is!", Star Man says, sounding disheartened.

"Okay! This is my weapon!", Mega says, fireing a blast from his plasma cannon, knocking Star Man out and sends his little twinkling  
>stars falling down with him.<p>

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING THERE?", Wily shouts at ProtoMan, "TAKE HIM OUT!"

With the order, ProtoMan lunges at his brother and they begin grappling.

"When are you gonna learn to stay out of our way, little brother?", Proto snaps.

"When you and Wily surrender, that's when!", Mega fires back.

"Not happening anytime soon!", Proto says.

Cut Man stands nearby and pulls his cutters off his head.  
>"Keep him still, ProtoMan! I'll give him a buzz<em>cut<em>! Eh-heh! Eh-heh!"

Just then, the orange robot feels a powerful surge of suction from behind him that yanks the cutters right out of his hands.  
>This is coming from Roll's vacuum adapter in her utility arm. This is the second time she's used the vacuum to thwart a Cut<br>Man Rolling Cutter attack.

"How many times do I have to tell you?", Roll jokes, "You shouldn't leave your toys flying around like that!"

Cut Man turns around and looks quite angry that she stole his scissors again.

"You _always_ do this!" he spits, stomping his foot, "That's it! I'm gonna take take care of you once and for all!"

Cut Man runs towards Roll with his fists balled up and Roll takes a karate stance. As Cut Man gets closer, he lets out a primal  
>yell that sounds more like a wheezy warble.<br>When he's close enough, Roll twists her body and performs a side superkick right to Cut Man's chin, knocking him out.  
>Roll regains her posture and pumps her arm victoriously.<p>

"Wooo!" she hoots, but her excitment becomes concern when she sees Mega still dealing with Proto and Rush still dealing with Hard Man.

Rush still growls in front of Hard Man back at the Skullker, ready to bite him when ready.

"Get outta my way, you stupid robodog!" Hard Man threatens.

Rush leaps ahead and bites Hard Man on the arm.

GutsMan snaps, "I'm outta here!" and lumbers away!

Hard Man pulls Rush off of his arm and throws him away from him. The robocanine powers his jets and zooms back towards him, but  
>Hard Man fires his weapon - the Hard Fist - at him.<br>When fired, Hard Man's fist detaches itself from his left arm and heads towards the intended target.  
>The bad news for Rush is, he is the target.<br>The Hard Fist collides with Rush's body while he was flying towards him, so the impact of the shot was even worse.  
>Rush begins flying off aimlessly and lets out a painful howl. His helmet piece on his head even becomes partially dislodged and he<br>eventually veers out of the shattered sunroof of the Science Museum out of control.

"Rush!", Roll cries out.

Mega Man hears Rush's howl and sees him flying out of the building.  
>The anger burns inside of him and he powers his blaster and shoots ProtoMan at close range, sending him falling back,<br>scorching his grey armor.  
>Mega charges towards Hard Man, firing more shots from his blaster at him, but the shots riccochet off of his body!<p>

"HA-HA!", Hard Man laughs, "My armor is doubly reinforced, You can't hurt me, Mega Geek!"

Mega stops firing and leaps over Galaxy Man's body and throws a stiff kick at the small area on Hard Man's head where his  
>face is. He figures if this big bully has a weak spot, it's that small face of his.<br>Mega Man's foot smacks Hard Man's face and the big barrel-shaped robot goes down with a thud.

"Now that the mutt is gone, you've gotta deal with ME!" GutsMan says, his confidence returning now that Rush is gone.

But, right on cue, the front doors of the museum are broken down by New York's finest, who come pouring into the building  
>with weapons drawn.<p>

"N.Y.P.D." says a voice on the loudspeaker, "Come quietly, or there will be trouble!"

Realizing that he and his robots are now outnumbered, Dr. Wily runs to the Skullker as fast as his legs can travel, deciding  
>to forget captureing Galaxy Man... for now, at least.<p>

"Abort!" he yells, "Abort!"

As Wily and his robots stagger to the Skullker, the human officers and policebots open fire upon them.  
>The Skulker takes off and the front windshields shatter when ammunition rips through it.<br>To say this mission was a failure would be an understatment.

"Blast!", Mega says, "He got away!"

"Well, look at it this way, Mega," Roll reasons, "At least Wily didn't get Galaxy Man."

"That reminds me," Mega turns and says with a skeptical eye, "You _promised_ to stay home during the next mission."

"Only if you told me what I was getting for my birthday! You _didn't_, so, I'm here." Roll replies, folding her arms.

Mega shakes his head at his sister, but then he realizes something... something horrifying...

"... Rush never came back!"

Looking concerned, Mega makes a sharp whistle.  
>Some of the police officers and policebots look over, but when they realize he wasn't trying to get their attention, they return<br>to their work. Mega Man then presses the communication button on his left forearm and tries to contact Rush.

"Rush, it's Mega Man. Do you read me?", he calls.

... there is no response.

Roll covers her mouth with her hands and is now worried about Rush and his whereabouts.  
>Mega Man also fears for Rush and contacts Dr. Light.<p>

"Dr. Light, it's Mega Man. This is urgent!"

_"Mega! Did Wily get away with Galaxy Man?"_

"No. He got away, but without the robot... this is something much worse."

_"What is it?"_, Thomas asks, the concern in his voice very much appearent.

"We can't find Rush! He got involved in the battle and... I think he got hurt."

_"I'll pick up his tracking signal and link it to you and Roll. You should have it shortly."_

After Mega Man disconnects, Roll grabs her brother by his right arm.

"Mega," she asks, sounding shaken, "You don't think Rush is... is..."

"Don't think that way, Roll! Not even for a second!", Mega assures, holding his sister by her arms and looking into her sad  
>blue eyes, "Rush is out there. We're <em>going<em> to find him!"

* * *

><p><strong>Shortly thereafter.<br>****Rochester, New York.**

Mega Man is driving the skycycle and Roll is seated behind him with her arms clasped around his torso.  
>Thanks to Dr. Light's assistance, they are following the location of Rush's tracker.<br>A beeping noise can be heard coming from Mega's communicator, and as they get closer, the beep becomes more frequent, but,  
>Roll has a bad feeling about this.<p>

"Mega, Rush's signal hasn't moved since we located it," she says.

"That doesn't mean anything, Roll." Mega stresses, "He's probably resting. He's gotta be alright."

Mega Man now sounds like he's trying to convince himself that Rush is okay, trying desperately to block out of his mind the  
>possibility of the worst case senario.<br>The beeping now becomes much faster as Mega and Roll approach a nearby office building.  
>But, both Mega and Roll don't see Rush anywhere in sight, unless he's hiding inside the canopy over the stairwell leading<br>to the roof, or perhaps somewhere inside this place..

"Are you sure his tracker is working?", Roll asks.

"It _has_ to be," Mega insists, again sounding like he's trying to convince himself that everything will be alright.

Mega parks the skycycle on the roof and the tracker's beeping is now very fast.  
>Roll and Mega waste no time and call Rush's name.<br>After there is no response, Mega Man spots something small and shiny on the roof.  
>As Mega slowly approaches the item, his jaw hangs slightly ajar and Roll - who also sees this item - follows her brother,<br>looking scared.  
>Mega looks down to see a lone microchip lying there and the beep from Mega's forearm now becomes a persistant flatlining tone.<p>

This was Rush's tracker.  
>Somehow, it became disconnected and ended up here.<p>

"Oh, Rush!" Roll whimpers as she hugs Mega Man, whose stare is fixed on the tracker, his whole world going numb,  
>focusing soley on that lone microchip...<p>

_"Mega Man! Did you find him?"_

"... No... Dr. Light... Rush is... _gone_!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>References:<strong> _  
><em>The "The following takes place..." intro is a tribute to 24.<br>Mega Man playing soccer is a reference to "Mega Man Soccer" the game._  
><em>Roll's "Excuuuuuuuse Me!" was a refernce to the Legend of Zelda cartoon.<em>  
><em>And, as you may have guessed, I named the Nimoy Science Institute and Museum after Leonard Nimoy.<em>  
><em>The "Come quietly or there will be Trouble" line was used in RoboCop.<em>

_I just want to add that this is pretty much it for the "action" part of the story. In the remaining chapters, it just gets sappy from_  
><em>here. So, for those of you expecting a climatic confrontation, you'll be disappointed.<em>

_Also, as you may have noticed, Rush doesn't speak Scooby-Doo-ish. And I'm going to stick with that through any Mega Man stories I post,_  
><em>unless of course, I feel it would be necessary.<em>


	2. Missing

**Somewhere.**

Here, somewhere in the middle of a large open forest, is Rush the robocanine.  
>He crash landed head first into a large patch of dirt and grass and now his head is stuck in the ground like an ostrich, the rest of his body is<br>is sticking up out of the ground in a vertical position with his hind legs almost dangling in the air and black smoke is barely pouring out of the  
>jets in his hind quarters.<br>He's not conscience right now, because the battle with Hard Man and the out of control trip here tired him out.  
>Finally, Rush's legs begin to move as he wakes up and within seconds they start moving faster as he realizes his current dilemma<br>Rush tries to run backwards, but at the awkward angle in which he is stuck in, it's no use and his hind legs barely scrape the ground.

Rush uses his two front paws to push downward at the ground and finally, his head pops out of the ground. He pulled himself out so  
>forcefully, he falls on his back.<br>His helmet piece is barely dangling to one side of his head, exposing his cranial circuits and microchips.  
>Along the way, his tracking device had somehow become disconnected from inside his head and because the helmet was half off, it<br>must have become lost.  
>Rush takes his front paws and manages to fit his helmet back into place, and shakes the cobwebs loose by ruefully shaking his head.<br>His face is dirty from being stuck in the ground for so long and his body has some slight damage from being hit with Hard Man's Hard Fist and  
>crashing through several things on the way here... wherever <em>here<em> is.

Rush looks around and studies his surroundings. He sees a lot of trees and fallen branches as far as the eye can see.  
>He lets out a few barks and howls, hoping that Mega Man and Roll were around to hear him.<br>But after several minutes and several calls went unanswered, he knew that they weren't here.

Rush knows he has to get home, so he gets a running start and leaps into the air, trying to jet away, but his jets spit out a little puff  
>of flame and he falls flat to the ground, because his jet fuel is exhausted.<p>

Right now, Rush was all alone out here, without his family and without battery biscuits and no means of jet transportation, and since  
>his tracker is missing, nobody knows where he is... and neither does he, for that matter.<br>He doesn't know which fate is worse.

He whimpers as he gets back up to his feet. But, he knows he's not going to get back home by just standing here, so Rush begins running  
>away, towards any sign of life there may be out there.<br>He continuously lets out a bark every few yards as he proceeds to let anybody out there know he's there, especially if Mega and Roll  
>are around.<p>

This is going to be a long journey home for Rush. He just hopes he makes it back there.

* * *

><p><strong>Dr. Light's Laboratory.<br>****Just outside of New York City.**

Mega Man and Roll have come back home, but are prepareing to leave again and begin searching for any trace of Rush there may be.

"I've gotta find him," Mega says with urgency in his voice and worry in his eyes, "Is that flight suit you've been working on ready yet?"

"No, not yet," Dr. Light answers.

"Then, where's that transport platform you made?"

"The storage room. It's fully fueled," Thomas answers.

Mega Man quickly heads for the lab's storage room and walks past Roll, who has been quiet since they got back. Right now she has her  
>hands clasped together, praying for Rush's safety.<br>As she prays, something catches her eyes. She looks over and sees Rush's box of Battery Bicuits sitting there open. Rush has consumed  
>untold ammounts of these things since he's been online and it fills Roll's mechanical heart with sadness that he's not here to eat any right now.<br>She even feels bad now for all of the times she stopped him from eating a whole box on numerous occasions.  
>Roll unclasps her hands and approaches the box, reaching in and taking one of the bone-shaped treats out.<p>

Dr. Light places his hand on her shoulder and asks, "Roll, are you alright?"

Roll looks up to Thomas with sad eyes, but forces a smile. "I know how much Rush loves these," she says, "he'll want one once he sees  
>us, so I'm taking one with me." Roll places the treat in her pants pocket and continues, "I just hope we find him."<p>

"We _will_, Roll," Thomas assures, keeping his optimism.

Mega Man returns holding a flat transport platform known as Transport Item #2. The item is red and has jets in the back, with a white  
>number "2" on the sides. This platform was the prototype for Rush's Jet Mode before Dr. Light ultimately decided to integrate<br>it into Rush's systems. So, naturally, Item #2 has very rarely been used.

"Let's go," Mega says to Roll.

"I'll alert the Robo Rescue Squad and the authorities about Rush. They'll keep an eye out for him. Do you need me to join you?" Thomas asks.

"Rush might find his way back to the lab on his own. If he does, someone's gotta be here to let him in," Mega replies.

"Very well, I'll stay," Dr. Light says, "Whatever you do, both of you, don't give up hope. You'll find Rush, I know you will."

"... I hope you're right, Doc" Mega replies.

* * *

><p>Outside the lab, Roll gets back on her skycycle and Mega Man steps on Item #2.<br>Once he gets on the Item, he already misses Rush and he feels an overwhelming sence of guilt.  
>He was the one who allowed Rush to deal with Wily's two strongest bots alone because he knew how much GutsMan was scared<br>of being bitten by Rush, but they had never encountered Hard Man before and didn't know what his weakness were.  
>Mega Man closes his eyes and clinches his fists, angry with himself that he would ever jeopardize Rush like that.<br>If only he could go back in time and prevent this from happening to his pet, he would.

"Mega," Roll calls, seeing Mega is not handleing this too well right now, "It's not your fault."

Mega opens his eyes and looks straight ahead. "I wish I could believe that, Roll", Mega says with a heavy heart.

Mega grabs the control off of the top of Item #2 and enters a command to take off, then Item #2 fires up it's boosters and takes him  
>off into the sky above and Roll follows in her skycycle.<p>

The search for Rush continues.

* * *

><p>Rush still wanders alone in search of Mega Man and Roll - or anybody - in this large forest. He still lets out a bark every now and<br>then, but nobody hears him. But, he is sure he hears something off in the distance.  
>Rush runs a little faster towards the noise and barks, hoping it's Mega and Roll.<br>However, his hope turns to horror as he sees a big black grizzly bear growling in front of him.

Rush backpeddles as the bear approaches and growls again, now standing on it's hind legs and towering over the robodog.

Rush knows he's battled some of Dr. Wily's biggest and best robots in the past, but never an animal like this and as weak as he is now.  
>Rush quickly thinks of a way to deal with the bear without having to duel with him in his weakened state.<br>He remembers he recorded the sound of some Robosuars to his database during the Robosaur Park mission last year, and now would  
>be a good time to use the sounds to his advantage... anything to scare this Bear away.<p>

Rush stands tall and opens his mouth and the booming sound of a roaring robosaur booms out.  
>The bear immediately back peddles and turns tail, making scared wails as he runs in the opposite direction from where he came from.<p>

Rush settles back down. That was a close one.  
>He knows he must get back home... soon! Before he runs into something else.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<strong>

It is now late at night and Mega Man has been searching tirelessly for Rush across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  
>Roll and him split up to cover more ground when they left Dr. Light's lab, but he hasn't found any trace of Rush anywhere and he<br>assumes Roll hasn't either, or else she'd have communicated with him.  
>Even Dr. Light informed them that nobody in else has been able to find Rush either.<p>

Mega lands on a nearby roof, giving Transport Item #2 a rest.  
>He kneels down on one knee and places his head in his right hand and lets out an anguished sigh.<br>Of all of the missions that he has been on since he became Mega Man just under a year ago, this is one of the very few that - despite being a  
>success - went wrong. And in this case, with Rush becoming lost, it went horribly wrong.<br>He still feels guilty for sending Rush to deal with GutsMan and Hard Man instead of doing it himself and letting him deal with  
>weaker robots like Cut Man or Star Man. That pathetic star shield of his couldn't have hurt anything.<p>

"What was I thinking?", he asks himself.

After nearly a minute of thinking to himself, Mega presses the communication button on his left forearm to contact Roll.

"Have you found anything yet, Roll?", he asks.

_"... no,"_ Roll answers, the fear noticable in her voice, _"I'm really scared, Mega."_

"I am too", Mega replies, knowing that right now, Rush is out there somewhere, alone and tired, possibly hurt, and there's not a  
>thing he or Roll or Dr. Light can do about it other than <em>try<em> to find him by blindly searching with no clues to work from.

_"You don't think Wily took him, do you?"_, Roll asks.

"I didn't see him in Wily's Skullker when it escaped," Mega replies, "Besides, I know Wily by now. If he had taken Rush, he would  
>be gloating about it right now, luring me to come to Skull Fortress."<p>

A beat of silence goes by.

"Look, you should go back home and get some rest," Mega says, "I'll keep looking."

_"But, I want to keep looking for him!"_, Roll protests.

"I know you do, but I just want you to be safe at home. If something happened to you too..."

_" I can take care of myself just fine, Mega!"_, Roll argues.

"Roll, please...", Mega sternly presses.

He can hear Roll sighing on the other end. _"... alright. But, w__hat about you?"_

"I'm staying out until I can't look anymore," Mega says, "I'll call you first if I find him."

Before he disconnects, he wants to remind his sister of something very important.

"Roll... I love you."

_"... I love you too, Mega"_ she replies, sadly.

Mega Man again rests with his head in his right hand, his metal heart full of worry and sadness.  
>For a moment, he forgets about everything that's going on and catches himself saying, "Let's go Rush."...<br>then he remembers... "Oh... I forgot, you're not Rush."

No, it's not Rush. Just Transport Item #2.

Mega Man stands back up and grabs the controller that operates this Item and continues to try and find his pet before it's too late.

* * *

><p>Likewise, Rush is still trying to find his way home, but he's still lost.<br>He hasn't seen any sign of civilization since he pulled himself out of the ground. Just woods and more woods.  
>Now, it's started to rain and Rush becomes drenched, but the weather only matches his mood.<br>He mopes and hangs his head as he continues along, rain dripping off of his wet nose.

He misses the lab so much.  
>He misses Dr. Light. He's always been a friendly, genlte person and he always made sure he was repaired whenever he got hurt.<br>He misses Roll too, because she's so sweet. Rush especially misses her hugs... even if they can get a little tight, sometimes.  
>But, the one he misses the most is Mega Man, his master and best friend.<br>The two have been joined at the hip since they have known eachother. There wasn't a week that's gone by where Mega didn't play  
>with him... even this morning, playing soccer.<br>Rush finds a hollowed out log tipped over on it's side and enters it, taking cover from the rain.

He sits down and rests his tired body and looks so sad as he stares ahead, wishing he would get back home.

Rush closes his eyes and allows himself to recharge for the night.

* * *

><p><strong>The Next Day.<br>****Dr. Light's Lab.**

The printer pushes out the last of several sheets, all of them duplicates. Dr. Light picks them up and hands them to Roll to help distribute.

"You know where to take these," Thomas says, "Make sure our friends at the Police and Fire Departments get one also."

"I'd rather go help Mega try to find Rush." Roll protests.

"By spreading the word, you _are _helping.", Dr. Light answers.

Roll lets out a sigh and nods, "Okay."  
>She takes the papers from Dr. Light and looks at the top sheet.<br>A picture of Rush is in the center with "Lost Dog" above it and the necessary information below.  
>Once Roll sees the image, she feels a wave of sadness hit her and lower lip begins trembling and lets out a weepy sigh.<p>

Dr. Light hears Roll's weep and looks over to her, "Roll?," he asks, "are you alright?"

Roll quickly turns her head away from Dr. Light and covers her eyes with her right hand.  
>She didn't want Dr. Light to see her get upset, because she's never seen her brother get upset around Dr. Light, so she believes she<br>shouldn't either.  
>"I'm fine, Dr. Light", she warbles.<p>

"Roll, please don't lie to me," he reassures, "It's okay to be upset."

Roll finally turns around and puts the fliers down, still stareing at Rush's picture on them, and weeps, "I kept trying to convince myself  
>that yesterday was just a bad dream," Roll now sobs, "But... he really <em>is<em> missing!"

Dr. Light walks over and holds Roll by her hands. As much as he is concerned for Rush, he knows his robotic children are having  
>a tougher time and he needs to be strong for them. But, seeing as he's an optimist, it's not too difficult for Thomas to keep the faith.<p>

"You're not alone," Thomas says, "A lot of people's pets get lost everyday."

"I never thought we'd being doing this for our own dog, Dr. Light."

"What did I tell you yesterday?", Thomas asks.

"... don't give up hope", Roll replies, still sounding weepy.

"That's right. I know you and your brother are worried about Rush, and I am too. But, I still believe he's alive. And as long as he's  
>alive, there's still hope."<p>

Dr. Light draws Roll into a hug, letting his daughter weep in his arms as much as she wants.  
>Seconds later, the good doctor's command console beeps, signaling an incoming communication.<br>Thomas and Roll brake the hug, but Roll stays by Light's side, hoping that it's Mega Man with good news.

"... It's Mega!", Dr. Light says.

Roll gasps and clasps her hands together, hoping he's found Rush.

"Mega, I hope you have good news?", he asks.

_"I've got a lead on him!"_, Mega says, the smile apparent in his voice, _"Our __friends at NASA contacted me and said they picked up  
>something on their satelite <em>_imaging. A trail went from the Science Musuem and ended up somewhere in Wisconsin. It had  
>to be Rush! <em>_I'm already on my way."_

"Be sure to tell Rush his Battery Biscuits are waiting for him back home, okay Mega?", Roll says, her voice still shakey.

_"You bet I will, sis." _Mega says,_ "We'll be back later!"_

* * *

><p>Rush walks through the woods and is sure he hears a faint sound that is very familiar to him. As he gets closer he remembers the<br>sound from whenever Roll played her music too loud, which was quite often.  
>She always called it "Captain Fallout and The Atom Smashers".<br>Rush eyes become wide and he wags his tail.  
>They must be here!<p>

Rush runs towards the music with his tounge sticking out, so happy he'll get to see his family again.  
>But, when he arrives, there was no Mega Man or Roll or Dr. Light.<br>All he sees is what looks like a large vehicle humans call a mobile home and two small humans outside of it. They are children, both  
>with blonde hair.<br>One is a boy who looks to be around eleven maybe; the other is a girl who appears to be five or six.

The music is coming from the young man's headphones, which have slipped off as he has fallen asleep; the girl is playing with her doll.  
>Rush feels disappointed for a moment because he didn't find his family, but finding <em>somebody<em> out here is better than nobody,  
>so he approaches them with a bark.<p>

The girl immediately notices Rush approaching and peeps, "A doggy!"  
>With her doll in hand, she runs up to Rush with a big smile on her face.<br>As she gets close enough, Rush stops and pants excitedly.

"Hi, Doggy!", the girl says, "My name is Lisa! What's your name?", she asks sweetly.

Rush barks happilly.

"Sit!", she says, and Rush obediently does so.

"You're a good doggy, aren't you?", the girl asks.

Rush barks again and licks the girl's face. Lisa giggles as the robocanine has taken a liking to her.

The childrens' mother - Nancy Corlett, a working class mom with medium/short cropped blonde hair - exits the mobile trailer and looks worried.  
>"Honey, you might want to step away from him!", she calls, "You don't know where it's been."<p>

"But, he's my friend!", Lisa protests.

Then, the kids' father steps out and stands next to his wife. "It's just a dog, Nancy," he assures, "You worry too much."

"Are you sure it's not rabid or anything?", Nancy asks.

"No, he's not... in fact," her husband Peter - a self-admitted tech geek who doesn't have much hair left on his head - replies, "... I think  
>he's a robot!"<p>

Peter is facinated by Rush and wants to see him, but Nancy puts her arm up.  
>"Hold on, <em>Mr. Professor<em>, you have to deal with somebody who was _supposed_ to be watching his sister.", she says nodding towards their son Layne, who is still asleep.

"Oh... right, I'll deal with it," her husband says.

Nancy walks over to Rush and her daughter, who beams, "Isn't he cute?"

"Yeah, he's cute... he's a little big, though.", Nancy answers, still sounding a little on nerve's end, because she is leary of large dogs...  
>even if they're robots.<p>

"Can we keep him?", the little girl asks.

"I don't know about _that_, sweetie. He's probably somebody else's dog."

"Pleeeeeeease?"

Nancy lets out a sigh. Her daughter always does this when she sees an animal, and it's always so hard to say 'no' to that face.

"... you'll have to ask daddy.", she replies, looking over to the rest of her family.

Meanwhile, Peter pulls the headphones off of his son's head and shakes him awake.  
>The boy squints and looks up to his father who doesn't look happy.<p>

"You said you were going to look after your sister while your mother and I packed everything up, Layne." he says.

"I'm sorry, Dad, " the boy replies, "I was tired."

"A dog came up to your sister while you were asleep. Now what if that was a coyote or a fox? What would you have done then?"

"I'm sorry. I'm not doin' that again!", Layne replies trying to get a look at this dog his father mentioned.

His eyes widen when he sees the dog. "That's not just any other dog!", he says, a smile forming on his face.  
>The boy runs over to his mother and sister and Rush.<p>

"Awesome!", he says, "You're Mega Man's dog, Rush!"

Rush becomes excited and barks several times when he hears Mega Man's name.

"Mega Man?", Nancy asks, "Isn't that the robot man on the news all the time?"

"Totally, Mom!", Layne says, "He's the Defender of the Human Race!"

Peter the father steps up and looks over Rush, checking for something. "He's probably lost or something," he says.

"Why would Mega Man just _lose_ Rush?", Layne asks.

The father sees that Rush has some minor damage on his body, mainly on his under section where a dog's stomach would be. This is  
>where he was hit with the Hard Fist.<p>

"Something must have happened to him," Peter speculates, "They _do_ end up in many battles."

Rush barks, and raises a paw to the back of his neck.

Peter looks on Rush's neck and sees the following words imprinted into Rush's titanium armor.

**"_DLN-0K9: Rush_**_**_._ If lost or damaged, please return to Dr. Thomas Light**_** "  
><strong>The address of the lab complex is located just below.

Peter motions for his wife to come over and speak with him for a second. Nancy gets up and they couple step away leaving their children  
>to play with Rush.<p>

"Layne's right," he says, "We've got to take him back."

"New York is a little out of the way for us," Nancy says.

"It may be, but I'm sure if we leave now we might be able to make it there by morning."

"Lisa wants to bring him home," Nancy says, barely smileing, then looking sad when she continues, "... I'd hate having to tell her he has  
>to leave her."<p>

"But, he's got to go home. After all that Mega Man has done for our kind, it's time for us to do something in return.", Peter stresses.

Nancy looks over and sees her children playing with Rush. She's not looking forward to telling her daughter that he won't be coming home  
>with them.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Later in the day.<strong>

Mega Man arrives to the forrest where Rush crash landed, right to the exact location the NASA techs said he may be located.  
>Mega sees a hole in the ground that looked to be the same size as Rush's head.<br>He also sees that the dirt around the area has some paw marks, like he might have struggled to get out.

Mega presses his communication button. "I'm here."

_"Did you find him?"_, asks Roll on the other end.

"Not yet," Mega answers, "But he's definitely been here."

_"Are you sure you don't want me come over and help you?"_, Roll asks him.

"I'm sure, Roll. He's gotta be close. I'll call you back when I find him.", he says, cutting off the communication.

The blue bomber looks around the area and calls "Rush?", letting out a whistle soon after.  
>Mega explores the forest, hoping that he can find his pet and put these miserable two days behind him.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Hours later.<br>****On the way to New York.**

The Corlett family mobile home would have been heading back to their real home right now, but they are making a trip to New York to  
>bring Rush home.<br>The kids are bonding with the robodog, but it's little Lisa who has become inseperable with Rush.  
>The son, Layne, approaches his mother while his father is outside re-fueling to continue the trek to New York.<p>

"Are we there yet?", he asks.

"We _just_ got to Indiana, Layne," Nancy replies.

"Is that far?"

"Far enough."

"You think I'll be able to meet Mega Man?", Layne asks.

"Maybe... but he might be out looking for his dog now," Nancy says, turning to her son, "You _do_ realize we can't let the little guy stay  
>with us."<p>

"I know that, but...", Layne nods towards his little sister, who is in the back playing with Rush, "Try telling that to _her_."

"... I know," Nancy mopes.

She realizes that it would be best to tell her daughter now, rather than not tell her and have to see her upset later.

"I'll need your help for a minute," she says.

In the back of the mobile home, young Lisa and Rush are together sitting on a large mattress. Rush was given a good cleaning earlier and  
>the dirt on his face and body is gone now.<p>

"This is California Chloe!" Lisa says to Rush, mispronouncing 'California' as 'Cow-afornia'. Holding up her doll, she continues,  
>"Say hi to Rush, Chloe."<p>

Rush looks at the doll quizically, letting out an "Aroooo?" sound.  
>He is confused. The girl acts as if it is a lifeform, but he's not picking up any lifesigns from the piece of plastic molded like a human female.<p>

"Lisa, honey?", calls Nancy, "Can I come in for a minute?"

"Okay, Mommy."

"Hey, Rush," Layne says, "Let's ride shotgun for a little bit!"

Rush barks and walks over to the boy, who looks back to his mother and nods.  
>Nancy gets on her knees so she can be eye-level with her daughter and again, the girl sweetly asks, "Can we <em>please<em> keep him?"

"Pumpkin-"

"I promise I'll love him and feed him and take care of him!", Lisa interrupts.

"Lisa...," Nancy tries to explain delicately, "You know that blue Mega Guy your brother talks about?"

"Yep"

"Mega _Man_, Mom!", Layne calls.

"Thanks, Layne..." she calls back, now looking back to her daughter, "Rush is his dog and he's got to go back to his home. I'm sure he  
>misses his dog."<p>

"But, can he be our dog too?", Lisa asks.

It's getting harder for Nancy to look into those sweet innocent eyes and say 'no.'  
>Instead, she tries to reason, picking up Lisa's doll.<p>

"You would be sad if Chloe was gone, right?"

"... yeah?"

"And you would be happy if somebody found her and brought her back home to you too, right?"

"... yeah!", Lisa replies.

"Right now, Mega Man really wishes somebody would bring his friend home."

"... but I don't want him to go," Lisa pouts as she looks back at Rush, "he's so special."

"I don't either... I know you're sad right now, but imagine how sad his real family would feel if he never came back."

Lisa looks on at her brother and Rush and knows that she has to let him go home not just because her mother is telling her so, but  
>because it's the right thing to do.<p>

"I'm sure Rush's family will be so happy that we brought their doggy back home, they'll let you come visit him whenever you want." Nancy says.

"Really?", Lisa asks, her eyebrows going up.

Nancy nods, "but, only if you do what's right and let us take him to his home."

Lisa shrugs her shoulders, not able to come to a decision right away. But, again, she knows what the right thing to do is.  
>"... okay", she finallly says, reluctantly.<p>

Nancy smiles and pulls her little angel into a hug and assures, "You're gonna make Rush's family very happy by bringing him back to them.  
>I'm so proud of you."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Later that Night.<strong>

It is now dark and a very tired Mega Man has searched for hours and could only find slight traces that Rush had been here.  
>He came accross what looked like an abandoned camp ground earlier. Even at night, he saw faint traces of Rush's paw prints in the<br>ground and a pair of tire marks nearby.

He tried finding any other traces of Rush, but found nothing.  
>Now, he's been following the trail of the tires, but that too has run out as the driver eventually crossed onto a freeway.<p>

He doesn't know where else to look. All he knows is that Rush has been on the move and that he is... or _was_ here.

Mega hopes that he either hitched a ride or that he ran into a good-hearted human who rescued him and not a bad one who would  
>kidnap him. He gets a communication from Dr. Light back at the lab.<p>

_"Have you found him yet?"_, Thomas asks.

"Only traces... but the trail has run dry. He must be with somebody."

_"We can only have faith that whoever he may have run into will contact us... I knew __I should have put the lab's direct phone  
>number on him."<em>

"I don't know where he could be now," Mega says, "I can stop Dr. Wily's attacks, save people's lives, be a hero... but I can't even find  
>my own dog!", he adds, the frustration rising in his voice.<br>"It's all my fault, Dr. Light," Mega says, discouraged.

_"That is nonsense, Mega!"_

"But, it's true!," Mega says, "I was the one who sicked him on GutsMan and Wily's new power robot. All I was thinking about was  
>making sure Wily didn't get Galaxy Man... I worry about Roll and you so often, I never thought about anything like this happening to Rush."<p>

_"Warning: Fuel running low. Advisment: return to lab for refueling."_, drones the computerized pre-recorded voice of Item #2.

"Shut-up!", Mega snaps at the Item.

_"What?"_

"It's this Item from the lab... it's driving me nuts... everything is."

_"Don't blame yourself, son," _Thomas says.

Mega Man can't find the words to reply with. Despite Dr. Light's encouragement, he feels he's failed Rush.

"... it looks like I'm coming home to refuel," Mega says, "Tell Roll, I'm sorry."

Mega disconnects and looks around at the sight of several motorists driving past - almost all of them oblivious of his presence - and the  
>large cityscape around him.<br>He knows somewhere Rush is out there, but he can't even find him.

All of these battles with Wily, his brother and the Robot Masters as well as situations like this are starting to take their toll on the blue  
>bomber. Mega balls up his fists and lets out a word he thought he would never say.<p>

"Dammit!", he shouts.

Once the word was already out of his mouth, he couldn't even believe he said it. This is the first time he's used a foul word of any kind, even  
>one as tame as "Damn."<p>

_"Warning: Fuel running Low. Advisment: Return to-"_

"I heard it the first time, you hunk of junk!" Mega snaps at Item #2, letting out an angry side he very rarely shows.

It's a good thing Item #2 isn't alive like he is, or it's feelings would be hurt right now.  
>Mega grabs the control with anger and flies himself out of here, forced to abandon the search for now.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Dr. Light's lab.<strong>

It is now the middle of the night.

Roll lets her brother inside after he arrives home. "Hey," she greets, quietly.

Mega nods, looking depressed and tired, hoisting Item #2 under his arm.  
>He wastes no time and goes to refuel the item so he can continue the search for Rush.<p>

"Where's Dr. Light?", Mega asks, quietly.

"He's asleep," Roll answers, "He tried to stay awake as long as he could."

As Roll watches her brother pull out a fueling nozzle - which is usually used to refuel Rush - and plug it into the side of Item #2, she notices  
>that something just looks wrong with her brother and she worries.<p>

"You look so tired, Mega," she says.

"I am," Mega Man confirms.  
>He's been awake since nearly two days ago and has gotten by on chugging Energy cans, which is inadvisable according to Dr. Light.<br>On his way back to the lab, he could feel his systms are running slow, causeing his reflexes to become dull at times.  
>He nearly hit a highrise on his way back to the lab.<br>"But, I'm not stopping until I find him," Mega says.

"Mega, maybe you should just stay here for a couple of hours to recharge," Roll desperately suggests.

"Rush is still out there," Mega replies, 'I can't rest until he's safe."

"Mega, please... I don't want something bad to happen to you too!", Roll pleas.

"Roll-"

"It'll only be for a couple of hours." Roll interrupts, "I'll stay up and Eddie and I will keep an eye out."

Mega sighs and he feels how heavy his eyelids are. He didn't want to stop searching, but Roll was right, he felt weak and couldn't  
>keep living on energy cans. He needed an actual recharge, not a quick fix of energy.<br>Mega pulls his helmet off, revealing his bushy brown hair and sets it down next to Item #2.

"Please wake me at sunrise," Mega weakly requests.

"Sure," Roll replies.

Mega leaves Item #2 and walks off to the house adjoining the lab, but before he leaves, his internal chronometer reminds him  
>to tell his sister something important... something he wouldn't dare forget, even under these unfortunate circumstances...<p>

"Roll," he says, turning around to look his sister in her eyes, "... happy birthday."

Roll is so touched by her brother's kindness, she feels another tidal wave of emotion hitting her. She is touched so deeply by the fact that  
>despite all of the heartache with Rush being missing, he still remembered to wish her a happy birthday out of the goodness of his<br>mechanical heart.  
>Roll manages to put on a smile despite the overwhelming sadness on her face.<p>

"Thanks, Mega" she replies, suppressing a weep, "Happy birthday to you too."

Roll gives her brother a tight hug and he hugs her right back, rubbing the back of her head.  
>The siblings remain hugging eachother, spending the first moments of their birthdays comforting eachother in their time of need.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Comments from the author:<br>Since I decided to end this chapter with one of the more powerful emotional scenes (Mega wishing Roll a happy birthday), this has left_  
><em>me without much story left to tell in chapter 3. So, don't expect the next chapter update to be large.<br>Transport Item #2 is based on Item #2 from Mega Man 2. It does work a little differently, but it's the same Item.  
>Yes, I know Rush doesn't have the registry number "DLN-0K9" but, I felt he needed one, since all of the other major bots have one.<br>__As you can see, I am following the Mega Man cartoon tradition of introducing characters who we've never met before and who aren't  
>featured in any of the video games, who will most likely never be seen again after the story is over.<br>__And my appologies to BlackRussian, but I had to throw in a Captain Fallout and the Atom Smashers reference._

_References:  
>As you probably guessed, the name "Corlett" comes from Ian James Corlett, Mega Man's voice actor on the show. (I'm sure Ian would be<br>proud that this family has good ethics.)  
>The son is named after the late Layne Staley, former lead singer of Alice in Chains.<br>California Chloe is named after Chloe O'Brian. Again, another 24 tribute. (The majority of the show took plac ein California, so there's another)  
>(<em>_I almost named the doll "Malibu Suzy" but I remembered that exact name is already in use on The Simpsons, I believe. Since the girl's  
>name is Lisa, it would have been too much of a reference. So, that got the Kabosh.)<em>


	3. Found

**Early in the morning.**

The sun is just starting to peek out in New York.  
>It was on this day a year ago that Mega Man - then known as Rock - and Roll came online for the first time.<br>It's been a long year since that day, and the past two days have really made it feel even longer.

The Corlett family mobile home is finally exiting New York City, after a nearly 20-hour voyage.  
>It was made even more unpleasant by sitting in the oh-so-friendly New York traffic, which they finally appear to have escaped.<p>

"My God!" Peter says under his breath, "Even in this time of the day, these streets are gridlocked... and the language on these people."

"That's why they call it the City that Never Sleeps." Nancy adds.

The mobile home makes it's last turn before it reaches it's destination: Dr. Light's Laboratory.  
>He and his wife look out the windshield at the titanium structure before them.<p>

"Wow!", he says, in awe of the mecca of science that is Dr. Light's Lab, "This is holy teritory for a geek like me, babe!", he says.

Nancy smiles, "You're weren't expecting _this_ on a vacation to God's country, were you?"

Layne runs up to the front and sees the lab himself. "Whoa!", he says, "This is Dr. Light's lab! Hey Rush, you're home!"

Rush runs over to the front area and looks out the window! His tail wags like crazy and he lets out some barks and hoots.  
>Rush grabs Peter's hand with his paws and kisses it, barking gratefully. If only he spoke english, he'd be saying "Thank You" over and over again.<p>

"That's right, big guy," he says, "You're home!"

Nancy rubs Rush's head and says, "I wish all dogs were as nice as you."

Layne says to Rush, "Keep kicking butt out there, boy!", holding out his hand.

Rush raises his paw and gives him a high five.

He then looks behind him to Lisa, who isn't smileing, because she can't help but be sad that her new friend is leaving.  
>After only a day, they formed quite a bond.<br>Lisa steps up to Rush and gives him a hug, wrapping as much of her short arms around him as she can.  
>Rush feels water dripping on his shoulder, followed by a quiet sob.<p>

"I'll miss you", little Lisa barely says.

Rush reaches around with a front paw and wraps it around the girls little body, now looking sad himself, despite that he's happy to be home.  
>He pulls himself away and looks at young Lisa with her teary eyes. He wants to cheer her up, and he knows the way to do it.<br>Rush steps a little closer and gives her a lick on the face and Lisa starts giggling again, and the robodog nuzzles himself to Lisa a little  
>more so she can hug him again.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Inside the house ajoining the lab.<strong>

Roll is recharging, lying down on Dr. Light's couch and Eddie is in her arms, also "asleep."  
>Roll accidentally let herself slip into recharge mode while keeping an eye out for Rush.<p>

"Roll?" quietly calls Mega Man, "Roll, wake up."

Roll's blue eyes open and look up to her brother and Dr. Light nearby, her pupils  
>shrinking as her optical circuits adjust to the brightness.<br>"Dr. Light?... Mega?... I forgot to wake you!"

"Hey, it's okay, sis," Mega says, forceing out a half smile, "I needed the rest anyway."

Roll sits up and hands Eddie to the good doctor, who sets him elsewhere on the couch as to not wake him up.  
>"You need any help?", Roll asks.<p>

"All the help I can get." Mega responds.

"I'll prep the skycycle."

"I'll bring Item #2 to you, Mega Man," says Dr. Light.

"Hey... what's that noise?", Mega asks.

Mega Man is sure he can hear a scratching at the front door. Thomas hears it too and goes to a nearby office room and pulls of the  
>complex's security feeds.<br>A few key strokes later and he sees a live image of the camera stationed near the front door of the house... and sees Rush standing  
>there pawing at the door.<p>

A smile comes accross Dr. Light's face.  
>"Well, I'll be!", he says, getting up to tell his children.<p>

"Would you open the front door, both of you?" Thomas requests.

"Why?", Mega asks.

"Trust me," Thomas says, smiling, "You're going to _want_ to open that door."

Mega and Roll go over to the front door and unlock it, opening it and there stands their dog Rush standing there, who instantly perks  
>up when he sees them.<p>

"Rush!" Mega calls as Roll gasps.

Rush barks and Mega Man and Roll sink to their knees and embrace him.

"I've missed you, Boy!," Mega says, petting his dog "We've been lookin' all over for you!"

Rush licks Mega Man's face, which causes the hero to laugh and smile for the first time since two days ago.  
>Rush then turns to Roll and licks her face too, causing her to laugh.<br>The ladybot wraps her arms around Rush and hugs him and Rush snuggles in her grasp as Mega also puts his arms around them.

"Oh, we love you so much!" Roll peeps, "Hey!... I've got got something for you!"

Roll breaks the hug and reaches into her pants pocket, pulling out the same battery biscuit she placed there the other day.

"I know you want one of these!", Roll says.

Rush's eyes widen and his licks his lips, then he quickly scarfs the treat and he starts to feel better physically.

"Hey, come'ere, boy!" Thomas happily calls as he approaches.

Rush barks and licks him too and the Light family embraces, together at last. Mega looks over to the outside and sees a mobile home  
>and four humans standing there: a man, a woman, a boy and a younger girl.<br>These humans must have found Rush and brought him back.

Mega waves and says, "Thank you!" to them.

They all wave back and Rush looks back and lets out a bark towards the family, giving them a wink.

* * *

><p><strong>Late that night.<strong>

Rush introduced the Corletts to his family and Dr. Light has allowed them to store their mobile home in the lab's garage until they  
>can return to their home tommorrow.<br>The gesture was the least he could do in thanks for returning Rush safely.  
>Of course, Layne thought Mega Man was the coolest hero ever and was kind of starstruck.<br>Roll bonded with little Lisa like she was the baby sister she never had.

The Lights have gone to bed and Mega Man is in his room, taking off his helmet and setting it aside.  
>There lying in Mega's bed is Rush, who is finally resting comfortably in his own home with his own family.<br>It's so good to see him back here, alive, well and safe at last.  
>Mega lies down next to him and wraps an arm around him, holding his four-legged friend close.<p>

No birthday gifts were exchanged today. There will be time for that tommorrow. They weren't needed today anyway.  
>Mega Man smiles as he knows that having his pet back home is the best birthday gift he and Roll could ever wish for.<p>

**The End.**

* * *

><p><em>Author's comments:<br>I told you there wasn't much left. Yeah, since I overloaded Chapter 2, this ending does feel very abrupt._

_So, please leave a review and tell me how much you liked it... or how much it sucked if you didn't like it._  
><em>Don't worry, my ego isn't too fragile to take criticisim. If something is wrong, I'd like to know.<em>


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